The deadline to raise funds for the epic High Tide Festival, which is expected to draw thousands of music lovers to the riverside in Twickenham this summer, has been extended.

Around £10.400 has been raised to date, however this falls short of the £12.000 needed to put on the much-loved event.

The community based music and spoken word festival showcases the best local, established and young bands and performers.

Hundreds of locals have chipped in to support the fund-raising while some have donated exclusive items that are being auctioned off.

Just this week actor, comedian and singer, Rob Brydon. offered an original script from the famous 'Islands in the Stream' episode of Gavin and Stacey.

The return of the festival last year following the pandemic was a huge success and the event - to be held on Sunday, July 17 - is predicted to attract even bigger crowds.

The festival is, as always, a free event to attend meaning the money raised will go primarily to pay the artists but will also contribute to staging and PAs

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This year's festival will be bigger and better than ever with an increase from 8 to 15 stages and performance areas providing live music.

As well as the impressive array of live music there will be a fresh brew of the highly popular and tasty High Tide Ale as well as an expanded range of street food and specialty drinks stalls.

Of course all the fabulous cafes, restaurants and other businesses of Church Street and the wider Twickenham area are available to enjoy too.

This is the third time the festival has been organised by local vinyl shop Eel Pie Records after successful events in both 2019 and 2021.

Eel Pie Records started as an ambitious dream that the owners Phil Penman and Kevin Jones had been talking about since the early 2010s.

They had been putting on successful live gigs in the area for a while but wanted to do more and bring a permanent, music based hub to our Twickenham neighbourhood.

This led to the establishment of the ever popular Eel Pie records who have since gone to great lengths to ensure the success of the festival.

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Kevin said the idea for the record shop and then the Festival emerged from what he called 'a four pint conversation'.

"Having got Eel Pie Records up and running, we thought we'd have a crack at making the Festival dream a reality," he said.

That first Festival in 2019 was a huge success. "It surpassed our wildest dreams. We felt it was important to have a focus on new music and young artists alongside more established performers," he said.

"Our guiding principle was to reignite the spirit of Eel Pie Island in its heyday – so not rehashing the music but make it more about harnessing the energy of the Eel Pie Island scene around the hotel."

Support the event here - https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/high-tide-festival-2022